Big Win for Olivia Mehaffey at 2019 Bruin Wave

If you're looking for NCAA golfers who are strong candidates to become good LPGA Tour players, Olivia Mehaffey better be on your list. The Arizona State (by way of Ireland) golfer is back in the winner's circle after claiming the 2019 Bruin Wave Invitational (hosted by UCLA) on February 26.

On a difficult course, Mehaffey finished at 4-over 220, winning by one stroke over a stellar field. It was Olivia's third Top 10 finish of the 2018-19 season.

Mehaffey, a junior, earned All-America honors following her freshman and sophomore seasons. Her first NCAA victory was at the 2018 Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge. She had eight Top 10 finishes as a sophomore.

Olivia already has a long record of success at the international level. In 2016, she won the Irish Women's Open Championship and the Welsh Ladies Open Stroke Play Championship. She also led Team Great Britain & Ireland that year to Curtis Cup victory, going 3-1-1 in the matches. Mehaffey has also represented Ireland in the 2017 Vagliano Trophy and the 2018 Curtis Cup.

Her best ranking so far in the World Amateur Golf Rankings is No. 5, and in the European Golf Rankings No. 2.

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Paige Spiranac and Textile Dysfunction

Remember that absurdist advertisement from the apparel company in which Phil Mickelson was dancing? Or, rather, "dancing"? That company was Mizzen+Main, and they are back with a great new funny video, one featuring Paige Spiranac.

It's an ad for Mizzen+Main men's dress shirts, but it's also a parody of those Viagra, Cialis, Lavritra and other male, ahem, performance drugs. The ones that warn you to be on the lookout for a boner lasting more than four hours.

So in this video, Paige isn't trying to sell men on erectile dysfunction drugs, she's talking about ... textile dysfunction. Dress shirts just not fitting you well, not matching your style? You might have textile dysfunction.

Here is the Paige Spiranac/Mizzen+Main textile dysfunction ad:

That's pretty funny, especially the exaggerated slurping at the end. But we still prefer our Paige the old-fashioned way, rapping golf balls:

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Charley Hull Wins 2019 LET Opener

The 2019 Ladies European Tour season teed off in Abu Dhabi and Charley Hull claimed the trophy — her first win in more than two years.

It's easy to forget how young Hull is because she's been around so long. Her first victory happened at age 16 in 2014 on the Ladies European Tour. At age 17 she was playing in the Solheim Cup. And she won the prestigious 2016 CME Group Tour Championship on the LPGA Tour.

But Hull hadn't won since then. Until the LET season-opener, the 2019 Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open. Hull earned the win with a final score of 8-under 208, shooting 67-72-69. She finished one stroke better than runner-up Marianne Skarpnord.

It was a wire-to-win win for Hull. But after Skarpnord set the clubhouse lead at 7-under, Hull got to 8-under and then needed par on the last to win it. She got up-and-down from a greenside bunker to do just that.

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Michelle Wie's Bahamas Bikini Bonanza

Michelle Wie attended Tiger Woods' Hero World Challenge in early December, which is played at The Albany resort in the Bahamas. And she must have really liked the place, because she's back there now with a group of friends. And Michelle is sharing plenty of bikini pics on her Instagram account. Thanks, Michelle! Your fans (at least your male ones) appreciate it.

We've gathered a selection of Wiezy's Bahamas bikini bonanza.

Here she is with part of her crew (from left, Hally Leadbetter, Wie, Amanda Balionis, Ashley K. Mayo and Kira Kazantsev):

And here Wie is with her good friend Hally Leadbetter:

Here here is Wiezy with former Miss America Kazantsev:

Plus a couple more Wiezy solo shots:

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Julia Engstrom, LET Rookie of the Year for 2018

Who is Julia Engstrom? She's the Ladies European Tour's 2018 Rookie of the Year at the age of 17.

Engstrom, the youngest in a strong current crop of Swedish golfers, became, at age 15, the youngest-ever winner of the British Ladies Amateur Championship in 2016. She was also low amateur that year at the Evian Championship.

In 2017 she was part of Sweden's winning team at the European Team Championship and played in the Junior Solheim Cup. In 2016-17, she spent two years as the highest-ranked amateur golfer born in the 21st Century.

Then Engstrom entered LET Qualifying School and finished ninth, earning her 2018 tour card at age 16. (She turned 17 in March of 2018.)

And in her rookie season on the LET, Julia had a high finish of fifth at the Lalla Meryem Cup, plus three other Top 15 finishes. She was 19th on the tour's Order of Merit.

Julia appears to have a good combination of decent length off the tee (a 264-yard average in 2018, good for 21st on the LET) and accuracy into the greens. Her 76.35% GIR number was 11th on tour, and her 111 birdies was 15th.

Not bad for a golfer who is playing a pro tour while still in high school!

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Becky Kay First Woman to Play vs. Men in Queensland Open

Australian amateur golfer Becky Kay will become the first woman ever to play in the (traditionally) men's Queensland Open tournament when she tees it up in the PGA Tour of Australasia event Nov. 1-4. And she played her way in through qualifying.

Kay, 19 years old, is the second-highest-ranked Australian in the World Amateur Golf Rankings. Earlier in 2018, she won three consecutive top amateur tournaments in Australia (the Riversdale Cup, South Australian Amateur and Western Australia Amateur).

Kay earned her spot in the Queensland Open by carding a 2-under-par round, playing from the championship tees, at The Brisbane Golf Club during a Queensland High Performance event qualifier. The Brisbane Golf Club is also the site of the Queensland Open, and Kay has played that course at least once a week recently as part of her national team training.

Still, the difference in distance between the men and women will put her at a disadvantage in the Open.

"(Playing off the championship tees) will definitely change the way I play the course," Kay said after the qualifier. "The course is going to be a lot longer and my short game will have to be on fire."

"I am really excited and hoping to play well," she said, adding that making the cut is her goal.

You can read more from the PGA of Australia, or follow Becky on Instagram or Twitter.

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